Sotheby's New York. Really a strong bid for this impressive and forceful painting, which carried a pre-sale estimate of between $ 70,000 and 100,000. Aivasovsky's dramatic depictions of the sea, his lifelong Romantic spirit and virtuoso brushwork brought him universal acclaim and recognition. He was born to an Armenian family in the ancient Crimean town of Theodosia, and as a young man travelled to study at the St Petersburg Academy of Arts. Like in many of his paintings, this work presents a dramatic and unmerciful sea, indifferent to the struggling group of shipwrecked survivors, though awesome nonetheless in its sheer beauty and power.
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